


Heaven Doesn't Need Another Angel

by onelastgingeronamission



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Carl will never die, F/M, O.c.'s - Freeform, Starts Season 3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-06
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-04-25 04:12:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4946254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onelastgingeronamission/pseuds/onelastgingeronamission
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Org. on fanfic.net) Set in the Walking Dead Universe, Alyss and her sister have been battling the walkers for a year and a half. When they stumble upon Rick and the gang, what new changes will be waiting when they arrive at the prison? What happens when Alyss begins to fall for the quiet and calculative son of their leader? Will they thrive together? Or will heaven get a new angel?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So this is a Walking Dead fic that was originally published on fanfic.net, but since I am in the process of moving everything over, it will now live here. I hope you all enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoy this! Just a little reminder: I OWN NOTHING.

The wind began blowing and it shook up the dead leaves piled around the playground. Annabelle giggled as she began chasing them around the swingset as they danced away from her. Sharpening my knife in slow strokes, I glanced up and smiled at the simplicity of it. I placed my knife down and stood up, embracing the strong, autumn breeze. My sister smiled up at me as she stopped her chase. Clutching an auburn leaf, she handed me her coveted prize.

“It’s for the collection,” She said, with the air in her voice that all six year olds carried. I nodded and with that signal she ran off to begin her descent on the swings. My little sister's strange obsession with leaves is something that I will never understand. Pulling out a worn notebook from an even more worn drawstring bag, I tucked the leaf safely inside the pages. “Come push me,” She cried out, her short legs barely long enough to let her toes scratch against the asphalt.

“Aren’t you old enough to push yourself, Annie?” I teased but nevertheless made my way over to the rusted swings. She stuck her tongue out at me, then turned to seemingly smile at the sky.

“I wanna go as high as the birds. All the way up! Maybe I’ll make it all the way to Heaven. Do you think Mom and Dad will be there?” She asked, without a care in the world in her voice. My breath hitched in my throat as I stopped in my tracks. I breathed in and out, plastering a big smile.

“I don’t think you can go that high, honey. Besides, heaven doesn’t need another angel.” I said, pressing my hands on her back and giving her a quick push. Her legs began to swing back and forth as she slowly swung back to me. Pushing her again, her legs began to pump back and forth and I walked back to my spot. Sitting down, I tucked my knife into the bag and checked it for the umpth time for my gun. I slipped it out and placed it next to me. The cool metal was soothing against my hand as I picked it up and checked the clip. Shoving the clip back with a satisfying click, I placed it in the holster on my side.

The day was calm. The neighbor we had stopped in was unusually calm. It was in a small town that must’ve not been hit as hard. I sighed. The wind began to pick up again, stronger and whipping up leaves and debris. I tucked my jacket tighter around me and reminded myself to try and find warmer clothes. Something struck my leg, blown fiercely against it. I picked it up and realized it was a crumpled up piece of paper. Spreading it open on my lap, emboldened letters screamed up at me from the element attacked paper. “ **Instructions for Contagion Prevention.** ” I crumpled it back up and tossed it at an overflowing trashcan. I missed. The sun faded flyer had been one of the millions that had been passed out and stapled everywhere by government workers at the beginning of the infection. When they first thought that they could stop it. When we still had a government to hand out flyers. It happened fast. Fast enough to where no one knew what it do. All we knew is that the people were sick and then they died, we didn’t figure out that they came back until it was too late. It all went to hell. My parents kept us alive, at the loss of their own lives. My sister was freshly five when the infection hit, I was stuck between fourteen and fifteen.

Annabelle’s giggles were the only thing to fill the empty space. Slowly, I picked up my knife and began sharpening it to the rhythm of the squeaking of the swing set. For a while, it was calm. A sharp scream erupted against the seemingly silent day.

“Alyss! Walker!” 


	2. Chapter 2

Scooping up my sister, I walked, calmly but quick enough, over to the play set and placed her down.

“Baby, I need you to stay here. I’m gonna go take care of it.” I tried to explain, as she drilled me with those big brown eyes. “I will be right back.” I said, placing my hands on her shoulders, feeling her slightly shaking. As she nodded, I released my hands and slipped my knife out of my pocket. Walking over to its lumbering figure, the smell was the first thing to hit me. A year and a half later and the smell never seemed to dissipate. Of course, it being an older one didn’t help the smell. I stopped a couple feet in front of it as it stumbled over the lip of the playground turf and it’s one scuffed sneaker hit the wood chips. Spinning my knife in my hands, I placed a foot behind me and took my stance. It’s arms reached out to me as I turned the slipped my knife forcefully into the front of its forehead. Yanking it out, it slowly fell and crumpled at my feet. Quickly, I stepped backwards and wiped off my knife on my already dirty jeans. I put my knife back into my pocket and jogged back to my sister, who practically leaped into my arms. Clutching her to my chest, I wrapped my arms around her back and held her there. “Let’s head out of here, okay?” I asked her as she lifted her head out of my shoulder and nodded with snot running down her nose. She wiped it off with her long sleeved shirt and nodded.

“Where are we going?” She asked, clinging to me once again, her head resting on my chest.

“Somewhere nice, sweetie. A two story house, maybe one with a little girl’s room with all the dollies you can play with.” I said, adjusting her on my hip, as we reached the bench and I grabbed my bag. “Besides, we’re almost close to the CDC. There'll be people there. People that can help us.” Slipping my bag onto my other shoulder, I instinctively looked both ways down the road as we reached the curb. Walking across the street, the neighborhood was silent except for my footsteps.

“Where they’ll be doctors? And girls like me? And maybe they’ll have a lot of trees outside so I can get more leaves!” Annabelle said, her eyes lighting up and looking at me eagerly as we reached the other curb and make our way across the lawn of the house that we were squatting in.

“I hope so baby. I really hope so.” I said, setting her down as we reached the door. I slipped out my pistol and slowly nudged the door open. Annabelle stayed behind me, close enough I could feel her breath on my leg. Squeaking softly, the door hit the wall and I made my way inside. After a quick sweep in the small one story home, I slipped my gun back in it’s holster and brought Annabelle inside. “Okay sweetie, go grab your stuff we’re going to leave.” I said, as she ran off into the living room where we’d been sleeping. We never slept in the rooms of the owners. Sometimes you aren’t the only one tucked into bed. Grabbing an empty duffel bag, I ransacked the cabinets and filled the bags with cans of beans, fruit, vegetables, and canned pastas. Annabelle always had to make sure we had food put away in the house. Something about making her feel more at home. The poor girl had been through enough to last anyone a lifetime, much less a six year old. Closing the rest of the cabinets and weighing the bag in my hands, it felt half empty. I sighed and made another mental note that we needed to find more food. Placing the bag down on the counter, I went down the hall to go check on Annabelle. “How’s it going, sweetie?” I asked. Annabelle had to pack everything. As in everything. I wasn’t even allowed to even breathe on anything. She was shoving a sleeping bag into a bag that was half its size.

“I got it!” She said, as she slowly managed to tied the handles of the bag together, with the sleeping bag squeezing its way out. “All done, Alyss!” She said, rolling the bag over with our other two bags. One with our clothes, the other with whatever we thought we might need; toothbrush, toothpaste, rope, soap, deodorant, the usual.

“Alright let’s go load up.” I said, picking up all the bags and heading into the kitchen and grabbing the bag on the counter. Annabelle came tagging along, clutching her favorite Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal, dirtied and worn by time. Herding her outside, I shut the door behind us and headed towards our Dad’s old 1980 Chevy Pickup Truck. Throwing our bags in, I checked for my bow and arrow resting in the bed of the truck. “Alyss, come on.” Turning around, I saw my sister standing in the front yard, waving goodbye. She finished waving before skipping over to me and dragging Winnie along by his arm.

“I had to say goodbye.” She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Picking her up, I opened the door, laid the seat down and plopped her down in the backseat.

“Of course you need. Now buckle up and try and get some sleep.” I said, as I propped the seat back up and waited to hear the click of the seat belt before closing the door. Opening the driver’s door, I hopped in and plugged the key into the ignition. Closing the door shut behind me, I turned the key and prayed they the engine would turn over. Hearing the engine roar to life, I switched the gear into drive and checked the mirror. Annabelle was laying in the back seat, clutching Winnie and sucking her thumb as if her life depended on it. I placed my gaze back on the road as I pressed down on the pedal and we sped out, leaving the home behind us and the sun at our backs.

* * *

 

We drove until the gas needle began twitching towards empty. Annabelle had woken up about an hour ago and was telling me all about what she wanted the house we would stay at to look it.

“It should be tall. Like four stories! And it should be pink! Or purple, maybe green. No I don’t like green.” She said, pouting as I smiled to myself and slowly pulled into a development that was the nicest we’ve been in a while. There wasn’t a lot of cars piled about and the debris seemed to stay away. It almost seemed like this place was untouched from it all. Pulling in front of a two story house, the needle hit the E and the car stopped.

“We’re here.” I said, opening the door with a creak, as I stepped out and the chilly air hit me. The sun was setting behind the house in bright oranges and reds. I walked over to the other side of the truck, opened the door and laid the seat down. Annabelle hopped into my arms with Winnie hitting against my hip as I showed her our new accommodations. A slight frown hovered on her lips.

“It’s not pink,” She said, her voice uncertain. “But it’s yellow. I like yellow.” She said, nodding her approval as I set her down.

“Let’s go check it out then.” I said, walking up to the house, slipping the gun out of its holster as Annabelle got into her favorite sneaking spot. Slowly I turned the doorknob and surprisingly it opened. Usually in a place as nice as this, everything was locked. Even in the apocalypse, people were still afraid of burglars. Kicking the door a couple of times, I raised my gun up to shoot, waiting for a walker to come stumbling to check to see if the noise brought a meal. Nothing came. Looking down at Annabelle, I placed my finger up to my lips and she nodded. I stepped into the house and did a quick sweep of the kitchen, dining room and the downstairs bathroom. Walking back to the front door, I motioned for Annabelle to follow me but she was staring past me. Slowly her hand rose up and pointed behind me. I spun around, expecting to be face to face with dead eyes and a decaying face. But I was met with eyes...live eyes. Bright, blue, live eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

Holding my gun at his chest, I gripped it tighter as I felt Annabelle run up to me and clutch my leg. The boy kept looking down at me with narrow eyes and a questioning glare.

“I suggest you put your gun down,” I said, trying to remain calm as I motioned towards his pistol with my own. Feeling Annabelle’s nails dig into my leg, I took one hand off the gun and placed it on her head, holding her to my leg.

“I was going to say the same thing to you,” He said, his voice deep and level.

“At the same time then?” I proposed, trying not to sound as nervous as I felt. He nodded and I began to count, “One. Two. Three.” At that moment, we both dropped our arms and I placed my gun back into it’s holster. While we weren’t planning on gunning one another down, I snuck a view glances at him. He was tall and well built, not too muscular where the veins popped out but where you could tell he could hold his own. His hair was dark, deep brown, almost black and was long but it wasn’t shaggy. Back to the eyes, they were...well living eyes. We hadn’t seen any survivors in a long time, and if we did, we didn’t get close enough to see their eyes. His eyes were a bright, brilliant blue. He was wearing a hat, it looked like the kind of hat a sheriff would wear. While my eyes were roaming over him, it looked like he was doing the same. Blushing, I crossed my arms over my chest and checked down at Annabelle in order to keep my eyes off of him. It wasn’t everyday in the zombie apocalypse you ran into a hot teenage boy the same age as you. At least I hope he was the same age as me. Annabelle was eying the boy herself before turning her big brown doe eyes onto me and motioning for me to kneel down. Bending at the knees, she cupped her hands quickly around my ear and whispered,

“Is he nice?” She said, pulling back and looking me with big worried eyes. Glancing back up at the boy, a sudden flash of panic flooded through me as I realized the cause of her worry. Gripping her shoulders and looking into her eyes.

“It’s not him, Annabelle. He’s dead. He can’t come and get us anymore.” I said, as I slowly saw the fear fade away as I stood back up, holding Annabelle in my arms. The boy was staring at us again, this time his expression couldn’t be read.

“Where’s the rest of your group?” He asked.

“It’s just us.” I replied, seeing the obvious shock on his face.

“It’s just been you two. All this time?” He asked, seemingly shocked that we could handle ourselves.

“Yes.” I lied. “What about you?” I asked, scanning around the room.

“My dad’s here. Dad!” He called out as my hand went automatically for my gun. The boys eyes shot to where the motion was and I brought my hand back to Annabelle.

“Force of habit.” I said, presenting a small smile, trying to diffuse the tension. He eyed my gun before turning his head to the door which lead to the backyard. Stepping in was a man. He looked like an older version of the boy, but he looked aged by time more than his actual age. He was dressed simple and his face was covered in a fine layer of scruff. His eyes matched the boys but they were dimmer, seemingly covered in a layer of grime brought upon by unmentionable horrors.

“Who are you?” He asked, sending his gaze directly from his son and onto me. I stood up straighter, keeping my hand securely on the side of Annabelles head.

“My name is Alyss and this is my sister, Annabelle. We were just passing through, no need to start up anything.” I said, trying to sound nonchalantly but inside I was wondering how fast I could grab my pistol out of it’s holster and aim it at his heart.

“My name is Rick and this is my son, Carl.” Rick said in a deep Southern accent. “Where’s the rest of your group?”

“We don’t have a group. We’ve been alone since our parents died.” I lied through my teeth as he looked at us doubtfully.

“By yourselves?” Rick asked. I nodded and he seemed to change his tune. “I’m impressed, usually the younger ones didn’t last long without a group.” Saying this to himself, he kneeled down and smiled at Annabelle. “Well hello sweetie.” He said, as she buried herself into the side of my leg.

“She’s shy. We haven’t always met nice people.” I said, patting the side of her head. Rick and Carl nodded to themselves as Rick stood back up. “Do you two have a group? You both look too nice to be on your own.” I spoke, as Annabelle poked her head out and looked up at Rick. Both of them looked at each other for while. “I understand.” I butted in, causing them both to look at me. “You have no reason to trust us, and we have no reason to trust you. So rock, paper, scissors for the gear here?” I asked as Annabelle giggled from my leg, earning a smile from Rick and an approving glance towards me.

“We have a group. And a place to hold up. A prison.” Rick said, looking at Carl, who gave him a nod. I felt Annabelle grip my leg and I looked down at her.

“Baby, they aren’t prisoners.” Turning my glance to the men standing in front of me. “Are you?” This earned me a smile from Carl and a chuckle from Rick.

“Oh no. We took it over. Cleared it out and we stay in the cells. It’s a pretty good setup.” I nodded in agreement. Then Rick turned from his casual tone to a serious facade. “How many walkers have you killed?” Surprised at the answer, I was quiet for a moment.

“Too many to count” I replied as I felt Annabelle nod against my leg.

“How many people have you killed?” He asked as both he and Carl leaned in slightly.

“Four.” I said, as Annabelle’s head perked up.

“Why?” Rick said, turning his glance into a piercing glare.

“They wanted us to drink the Kool-Aid.” I said simply. Earning a nod from Rick and a glance from Carl, they looked at each other for a quick moment.

“Welcome to the group.”


	4. Chapter 4

 

“That’s it?” I asked in surprise. Rick nodded and Carl gave me a small smile.

“Welcome to the group.” Carl said, offering his hand out to me. Slowly, I moved my hand off the hilt of my gun and grasped his hand in mine. It was warm and callused over. We stood like this for a while, simply staring at eachother. An action that didn’t mean much before but now it seemed to carry everything on its shoulders. Dropping our hands, Annabelle popped out from behind my legs and stood in front of me, seeming to inspect these new people.

“Do you have kids like me?” She asked, managing to squeak out but still starring Rick straight in the eyes, tall and seemingly defiant. Rick smiled softly and kneeled down once again, this time Annabelle kept her eyes locked on him as if whatever he said would be the answer to an extremely important question.

“Why yes we do little miss. I have a daughter and she’s about two, we have other kids that are a little older than you but I think you’ll fit right in.” He said, as her eyes lit up and she turned around quickly to look at me.

“We’re going.” She said as if I had not right to defy her. A smile settled upon my face as I saw Rick stand up and a smile was in his eyes for just a moment.

“Oh yes, I think that’s a good idea.” I said, teasingly as she turned around to look at Rick.

“When are we going?” She asked, speaking promptly. Rick seemed a bit taken back, but smiled nonetheless.

“Right now.” He said, turning to turn his gaze on me. “We cleared the house, not much, it’s probably already been scavenged. Did you both need anything?”

“We got everything. Just food. The weather’s getting colder and there really hasn’t been a lot of game around.” I shrugged as Rick’s face erupted in a smile and Carl cast me a glance.

“You hunt?” Carl asked.

“Yeah, I have my bow in the truck, why?” I asked.

“We need another hunter. There’s Daryl but even he’s not enough manpower to bring us all the food we need.” Rick said.

“How many people do you have?” I asked, surprised. Usually groups didn’t get this big. The only other group that we had encountered that was this large, well, let’s just say it didn’t end well. Rick and Carl glanced at each other before Carl answered,

“About sixty or seventy of us. It’s not a lot compared the the room that we have.” He shrugged, as if he had said he was just him and his dad. I nodded as if this was normal.

“How far are you guys from here?” I asked, wondering where we would find gas for the truck. “We’re just about empty.”

“You could just ride with us. We’re about three or four miles from here.” Carl said, looking directly at me. I was just about to accept their offer before Annabelle butted in.

“We can’t leave the truck!” She protested, turning to look at me. “Alyss, it was Daddy’s.” Her eyes were big and boring down into me. Sighing, I nodded at her and turned to look at Carl.

“Thank you, but Annabelle’s right. If we leave it, she might kill me.” I said, ruffling her hair as she stuck her tongue at me. “You guys don’t happen to have any gas on you? There aren’t that many cars around here and I’m guessing many of them were ditched.” I remarked, remembering the amount of dirt and grime that were on a majority of the vehicles. Once again, I received a praiseful glance from Rick.

“We already checked them when we came last week, all tapped dry. We’ve got an extra tank in the pack and we’ve got enough to drive there and back.” Carl said, smiling at me before smiling down at Annabelle. “Trust me darlin, we’d get your Dads truck there if I had to push it back myself.” He said, as she smiled back. I already knew that she was going to be the apple of their eyes before the week was up.

“Let’s go!” She squealed, grabbing on my hand and jumping up and down. I chuckled and placed my hand on her head, slowly stopping her bouncing.

“Well, I guess we have our orders. Carl, go help Alyss get the gas tank and fill up the truck. Annabelle, there’s a bedroom upstairs that I’d think you’d like to see.” Rick said, smiling down at Annabelle with an almost look at pride. Annabelle looked up at me with the big puppy dog eyes, knowing she wasn’t going anywhere with anyone unless I said yes. Glancing up at Rick, I went with my gut.

“As long as you have your knife right?” I asked her as she lifted up her shirt and I noticed the hilt of the blade tucked into her waistband. Looking up at Rick, he was looking at me in approval. “Go on ahead.” I nodded as she ran off to Rick, who was already leading her up the stairs. Turning around, I saw Carl standing at the door. “Trust me, my sister is not going to stab your dad.” I said, walking past him and through the doorway. Hearing his footsteps follow me, I made a beeline for the nearest vehicle that wasn’t mine.

“I sure do hope not because I’m not exactly sure how to get back.” He said, his blue eyes locking on my green ones as we both met at the trunk of the car. I smiled at him as he popped the trunk and snatched a red gasoline tank, closing the trunk door with a click. We walked over to the truck and he undid the gas cap and started pouring the gas in. “So where are you both from?” He asked, turning to face me, keeping on hand on the gas can.

“Monk’s Corner, South Carolina. Small town, real Southern. You two?” I asked.

“King County, Georgia. Not too far off from here. Ya’ll made it pretty far for only a year and a half.” Carl remarked.

“We had this baby.” I said, patting the side of the bed of the truck. “Hasn’t broken down yet, our dad considered it as if it was another one of his kids.”

“What happened to your parents?” Seemingly blurted out, he stuttered and turned red, trying to take it back.

“No. No. I don’t mind. My dad and mom, well, they didn’t last long. Our mom was sick to begin with; cancer, ulcers, everything you can name and then some. She was attacked by a rogue patient in the hospital and they killed her on site. At least it was early on. Our dad lost it after that, he wouldn’t accept that the people were sick, he thought that the man that attacked our mom was a murder and did it out of his own will.” I sighed and shook my head, looking down at my feet. “He didn’t last long after that, but not because of the sickness.” I said, lifting my head back up and holding it up higher. “Then it was just me and Annabelle. We left as soon as our dad..passed. Stayed away from people and we headed towards the CDC, that’s where we were heading.” I said, as his face dropped a little.

“Sorry to break it to you, but the CDC is gone.” My heart dropped.

“W...What?” I managed to stutter out.

“That’s the first place we went to when it hit. It was shutting down, the generators slowly running out of gas. When the generators go out, the building explodes to destroy the diseases. We managed to escape in time.” Carl said, looking down. “Not all of us.” I heard him mutter. Slowly and unsurely, I reached out and placed my hand on his that was on the gas tank.

“We’ve all lost someone.” I said, my voice thick with emotion. His eyes looked up and locked onto mine. We stayed like this long after the gas had finished draining from the can and the moment was broken as we heard rapid footsteps running towards us. Automatically, I dropped my hand from his and sharply turned towards the noise. Annabelle was running out with something securely tucked underneath her arm and clutching something out in front of her.

“Alyss! Eeyore!” She squealed, shoving the purple donkey in my face as her smile reached all the way up to her eyes. Hugging the toy to her chest as if for dear life, she smiled. “Rick said I could have it, he said the other little girl wouldn’t mind.” Looking up, Rick nodded at me and I nodded back.

“That was very nice,” I picked her up. “We’re all ready.” I said, looking at Carl who had already recapped the gas cap and was placing the empty tank into the trunk. Opening up the driver's seat door, I moved down the seat and placed Annabelle inside. “Buckle up missy.” I said. Moving the seat back and closing the door, I turned to face Rick who was about to get into the car. “We’ll follow you.” He nodded and sat in the driver's seat and started the engine. Carl gave me a subtle nod before taking his spot in the passenger’s seat. I swung open the driver's side door and hopped in. Their car pulled in front of us as I started the engine. With a quick honk from me, we were on our way.

 


	5. Chapter 5

  
  


We rode along the rode silently, the only noise was the off key humming of Annabelle in the back seat. Slowly, I began humming along and gently tapping out the rhythm on the steering wheel. Every so often, I’d see Carl swing his head around, his hair racing after him, checking if we were still following. True to their word, we reached the prison in a mere matter of minutes. It was huge. I mean I’ve never seen a prison in real life before but this was huge. Walkers surrounded the outer fences, making the metal bend under the stress, and more seemed to stream out of the woods at the sound of our arrival. Huge, heavy gates slowly swung open as Rick entered and I quickly followed suit. Smaller gates opened as we both made our way into the prison yard. I cut off the ignition and slowly swung open the door, my boots hitting the gravel as I stepped out. Annabelle managed to climb up into the front seat and was looking up at me eagerly.

“Let me check it out.” I said, as she nodded at me, her brown curls moving up and down in agreement as well. Making sure she was safely tucked into the backseat, I closed the door and placed my hand on the hilt on my gun. Rick was stepping out of the car and Carl was closing the door as I made my way over. “What now?” I asked, looking around and spotting two people, both in their twenties, one Asian, another one light skinned and with brown hair, looking down at me from one of the watchtowers. When eye contact was made, they made their way back into the tower and I heard the metal clang of a door slam down.

“Now, my dad goes and gets everyone and we all get introduced.” Carl said, trying to see his way around me. “Where’s Annabelle?” He asked, as his eyes made their way to the truck where his face erupted into a smile. Turning around, I saw Annabelle perched over the top of the driver's seat, watching everything and turning to look at me with hopeful eyes. I waved my hand motioning for her to come out. She nearly flipped off the top into the seat below, causing a small chuckle from Carl. I was really starting to enjoy seeing his boy happy. The car door slowly creaked open as we saw two small feet hit the gravel and the door slowly swing closed. Clutching Eeyore to her chest, Annabelle made her way over to us, her feet guiding her as her gaze never left the towering structure in front of us. She stopped next to me and looked at Carl in pure awe,

“You two live here?” She asked, amazed.

“Yep, me, my dad and a lot of other people, but there’s a lot of room left for y'all.” He said, looking down at her as her eyes roamed over the building. Stopping on something she liked, she turned to look at me with big green eyes.

“They have chalk Alyss! Can I play with some? Please!” Annabelle asked, clutching her prize closer to her chest. Ever since the shit had hit the fan, Annabelle really didn’t have much of a childhood and she didn’t remember anything from before our Mom died, thank God. Everything to her was amazing; butterflies, leaves, chalk, even cool looking rocks got her excited.

“Well once we meet everyone I’m sure they’ll be happy to share.” I said, patting her head as the noise of a door swinging open filled the air and we all turned to glance at the watchtower. It was the same two people who were inspecting our arrival.

“Who do we got here?” The Asian asked, making his way over with a smile on his face. His partner followed along but a bit warily.

“This is Alyss and Annabelle.” Carl introduced us, as I nodded at them and Annabelle peaked out from behind my legs. “Dad and I found them out on a run and they passed.” The Asian smiled and offered out his hand to me. Taking it with my free hand, I shook it.

“I’m Glenn and this is my wife Maggie.” Glenn said, wrapping his arm around Maggie’s shoulders. Maggie’s eyes roamed over me before settling on Annabelle, her face breaking out in a smile.

“It’s nice to meet you both.” I said, looking down at Annabelle and whispering, “Go on, say hello.” She looked up at me and nodded, turning to face them she released her death grip on my leg.

“My name is Annabelle and I’m six.” She said, rearranging the stuffed donkey to display her age on her fingers. Both of them smiled at her. I assumed they hadn’t seen a little kid since the infection began, well a live one.

“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you Annabelle.” Glenn said, smiling down at her, earning a huge smile in return. Glenn seemed nice and friendly, I was surprised that he had survived this long. The nice ones died out pretty quickly.

“It’s nice to meet you both. It’s been awhile since Rick’s brought anyone back.” Maggie said, her voice layered with a slight yet prevalent Southern accent. “My name is Maggie, but Glenn already told you.” She said, smiling at her husband. “Where are you both from?” She asked, turning back to us.

“South Carolina, near the border of North Carolina. Small town.” I said. “We were heading towards the CDC when we ran into your merry band of misfits but apparently is kinda blown up.” Shrugging my shoulders, I tried to make a smile appear on my lips but to no avail. Glenn went to go say something but a loud voice cut him off.

“Dad!” Carl shouted as I turned my head to look up at the top of the path that led to the prison. Rick was walking down the path with three people. One was an older man with grey hair and a neat beard. He walked with a strange gait as if one of his legs was connected funny to the rest of his body. The other two were women. One was probably in her late thirties, with grey speckled short hair. She was thin but she walked with a confidence that was contradictory to her size. The last had dark skin with her hair in many braids, held back by a colorful headband. She had some type of sword hung on her back with a white striped handle. Feeling something against my leg, I looked down and Annabelle had hid herself literally behind my legs. As they made their way, I stood up straighter and reminded myself to release my intense grip on my gun, it might scare them or something. The old man smiled at me and tried to peer at the mass hiding behind my legs. In one quick sweep, I snatched her up, much to the delight of the older man.

“I see the reason why Rick brought you here.” He said, in a soft tone. “I’m Hershel. It’s a pleasure to meet you both. This is Carol and Michonne.” Hershel said, motioning first to the smaller lady and then to the one with the sword. “I’m afraid you’ll have to wait to meet the other council member, Daryl, he’s out on a hunt right now.” Turning his head, he saw Maggie and Glenn and smiled, adding. “I see you’ve already met Glenn and my daughter Maggie.” He looked back to us and looked down at Annabelle smiling gently. “Now who might you both be?”

“My name is Alyss and this is Annabelle.” I said, nodding towards my little sister who was smiling at the people in front of us, apparently very at ease with Hershel. “Thank you for bringing us to join you. It really is nice to see people, we haven’t seen any good folks in about a year or so.” Hershel nodded at me as Carol seemed to melting her cold interior that she seemed to carry and Michonne was seemingly trying to determine the situation.

“So you’ll be moving in then?” Carol asked, looking us over once again, her eyes catching on Annabelle.

“I believe so.” I said, standing up straighter.

“Can I play with the chalk?” Annabelle butted in. “Alyss said I had to ask, to be nice. Can I meet some other kids?” She continued, as she squirmed down and stepped up to Hershel. “You’re a lot like my dad was.” She added at the end. This seemed to send a shock wave of silence through all of us. Rick was the first one to speak.

“Well I believe you can. How about we move you and your sister in and you can meet the rest of the kids at story time? Carol likes to read to the kids after dinner, does that sound like fun?” He asked, as Annabelle smiled up at him eagerly. Annabelle had taken a strong liking to Rick and it seemed to be for the best. Her head quickly spun around and her bright green eyes locked on me.

“Can I? Please! Please!” She practically begged as I nodded and she actually squealed. “I like it here. I think I’m gonna stay.” Annabelle said, nodding her head to herself and earning a few chuckles from around the circle and even a small crack of a smile from Michonne.

“Let’s get you settled in then.” Rick said, smiling at her. “If you don’t mind, I’ll lead you up to where we keep the cars and we’ll get you into your cell.” I nodded and began to walk to the truck with Annabelle's light footsteps following me.

“I can show her Dad.” Carl chipped in, opening the door of their car. He turned to look at me and gave me a small smile. “That okay?” He asked me. Yeah, I really liked seeing his boy happy.

“Yeah of course.” I said opening the door of the truck and Annabelle climbed her way in. “Lead on Sheriff.” I smirked as he tipped his hat slightly to me and got into the car. Sitting in the driver's seat, I shut the door and Annabelle sat in my lap. Turning over the engine, I slowly followed Carl up the drive and into the actual prison. We stopped at another gate that was at the other end of the prison. I stopped the car and opened the door, Annabelle hopping down first. Stepping out, I closed the door and locked it behind me. Carl was standing next to me.

“There ain’t no need for that.” He said, giving me a reassuring smile. As much as his smiles made me want to practically jump him, this was new. New wasn’t always good, in this situation new was terrifying, exciting and sometimes deadly.

“We’ll see.” I said, going to the bed of the truck and grabbing my bags. A hand went on mine and I dropped my bag. Reaching down, Carl grabbed it and took the last one from the bed of the truck and threw it over his shoulder. I grabbed my bow and sheath of arrows, the last things to be taken out and first ones to be put in, and slung them over my shoulders.

“Let’s go on in. Everyone else is down in the cells.” He said, opening a door near us and stepping inside. Annabelle was following right behind him and looking at me in expectation, extending her hand towards me.

“Come on Alyss. Let’s go. For Mom.” She said, like she always did when she knew I was nervous. We had made a pact ever since Mom died that no matter what we had to do for each other we’d do it for Mom. Adjusting the strap of sheath, I took her small hand in mine and stepped inside.

“For Mom.” I said, as the door closed behind us.

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

The prison had a damp, heavy air to it as we made our way down a hallway. Annabelle's hand was clammy and clinging to mine as I adjusted my bow.

“How long have you been here?” I asked trying to make conversation as our footsteps were the only noise to fill the immense empty space.

“Not long.” Carl said, readjusting our bags on his shoulder. “We cleared out the prison yard when we first got here then moved our way in and cleared out this block. We had to clear out another one when we gained some more people, but I doubt you’ll meet them. We stick to our own. And you’re both one of us.” He said, smiling at both of us as he stopped at the end of the hallway we were walking down. “Welcome to C Block.” Carl said, smiling as he opened the gate that was in front of us. Annabelle dropped my hand and peaked her head out before making her way into the cell block. I followed and stepped out onto the sun lit cement. It lead out into a large cell block. There were about six cells, on each of the two levels. Annabelle made her way down a staircase that lead down to the ground floor.

“Annabelle.” I called out as I walked down the stairs with Carl's footsteps following me as Annabelle began to peek her head into the cells. Most had the cell doors wide open, but blocked off by hanging sheets. I raked my eyes over the cells as I took our bags from Carl.

“Most of the top ones are empty, I don’t suggest you take one. Well I didn’t think you would anyways.” He said, moving his glances from the top cells onto me. “Too smart for that.” He smirk slightly as I turned my attentions back onto Annabelle who was running her hand down a bright pink sheet. A movement out of the corner of eye caught my attention as I saw him motion towards the third cell from the left. “That’s the closest one to the exit that's empty.” Carl said as my eyes were diverted to a large room that was attached to the cell block and spotted a door on the other side. Annabelle stood in front of the cell that was closed and slowly slid the door away. She turned to me, smiling. I nodded and she ran in, climbing up the bunk beds and flopping down on the top bunk.

“Mine!” She called out. I smiled and readjusted the straps on my shoulders as I walked into the cell. It wasn’t too small, nothing that would cause someone to go crazy, more like cozy. There was a set of bunk beds and a small metal desk that was shoved against the wall. Placing the bags down, I set my bow against the wall along with my arrows. Annabelle was laying on the top bunk with Eeyore clutched to her chest, a huge smile plastered on her face. “Carl?” She asked, keeping her eyes on the ceiling as I unzipped a bag,

“Yes.” He said, leaning in the doorway of the cell.

“Where do you sleep?  When’s dinner? How many kids are there? Are they nice?” Annabelle listed off in a rapid line as she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed.Carl cast a glance at me as I handed her Winnie and she clutched it next to Eeyore. I shrugged and tossed the pillows on my bunk.

“Six year olds.” I smiled at him. His lips slowly turned into a smile.

“My sister just hit the terrible twos. Does it get any worse?” He asked, coming inside and leaning against the desk.

“The threes are even worse.” I smiled back at him and set Annabelle's pillow, along with her leaf journal on her bed.

“Well?” Annabelle pipped in, crossing her arms against her chest and tapping her foot against the air.

“Well.” Carl grinned at me and then turned to her. “Dinner will be done in a little bit, we usually eat right before sundown so we can eat outside before it gets too cold. There are about fifteen to twenty kids here but most of them are in the other cell block. Most of them are extremely nice but some of them are still pretty shy being in a new group. They last one they were in wasn’t exactly...good.” Carl said, his eyes shining over slightly as he let out a small cough. “Anyways, I am right next door so if you need anything.” He said, making his way over and giving a sharp rap on the wall. “I’ll be over in a heartbeat.” He smiled at her, before turning his eyes onto me. I felt my face turn a light, burning pink and smiled back. Annabelle's eyes went between us in quick movement.

“If you like my sister, you have to go through me.” She pipped me, looking at Carl with possibly murder in her eyes. “You’ll have to be nice to her. I know where you sleep now.” Annabelle finished with a crisp tone in her voice as if she had just complimented the weather. Carl’s face erupted into a bright red and he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well I’m sure that Carl here has a lot more on his mind than liking lil ole me.” I said, walking over to Annabelle and started to tickle her side. Her face erupted into laughter as she dropped Eeyore and it handed on my feet. I turned to Carl to see him staring at me with his face slowly losing it’s red shade. “We’ll find you when you get settled.” I said, my lips turning up slightly at the edges as my face continued to burn. He nodded and he made his way out. My sights turned on Annabelle, whose face was turning red and eyes were staring at me. “Oh now you’re gonna get it.”

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

 

I swung open the door that I assumed lead out to the front of the prison since it was the only door in sight. Annabelle walked out in front of me and her eyes scanned the scene in front of her. The door slammed shut behind us as we made our way over to the rest of the gang and the rays of the setting sun fell over us. Carl was right, they had a lot of people and most of them kept to themselves. A majority of the people, mainly middle aged men and women, were sitting close to the prison, eating and talking amongst themselves. Children ran around near them, playing tag and enjoying the evening. Annabelle turned around with excitement into her eyes that were locked on me.

“After diner.” I said as she nodded and turn her gaze back onto the other children. Placing a hand on her shoulder and practically tearing her away from the seemingly magnificent scene before her, we headed over to where “our” people were. Carl was talking to a kid about our age with glasses and dark curly hair. He spotted us and a smile erupted on his face, waving at us to join them. Annabelle practically ran over and scampered up onto a seat right next to Carl. Sitting down, Carl cast me a smile and the kid cast me a glance as Annabelle’s feet hit against the empty bucket she was sitting on.

“Just in time.” Carl said, throwing his empty plate on top of his friends and rustling Annabelle's hair, earning himself a smile. “I’d like to introduce you both to Patrick.” Patrick nodded at both of us.

“Nice to meet you.” I said, offering him my hand as his eyes glanced over it from behind his glasses. My gaze landed on his face, noticing the pale sheen covering it as I dropped my mind. “My name is Alyss and this is my sister Annabelle.” Patrick simply nodded.

“Same to you.” He simply put.

“So it’s Spaghetti Tuesday. Shall I get you both a place?” Carl said, standing up.

“None for me.” I said. “Annabelle will have a plate though.” Annabelle looked at me with slight hesitant in her green eyes and I gave her a small reassuring smile. “Go ahead sweetie.” I added as she stood up and took Carl’s hand in hers.

“You like spaghetti?” Carl asked Annabelle as they made their way over to the food.

“Not hungry?” Patrick asked as I crossed my arms against my chest.

“I don’t want to owe these people anything incase things head south.” I said, my train of thought beginning to trail away.

“These people aren’t like that. I don’t know what you’ve been through but I came from a pretty fucked up group to say the least and compared to them, these people are saints.” He remarked, pushing his glasses up higher on his nose and looking down at his hands.

“Where’d you come from?” I asked, studying his pale face trying to recognize his features.

“A place called Woodbury.” I nodded at his quiet response and plastered a smile on my face as Annabelle skipped back to the table with Carl holding a full plate following along. She sat down and locked her eyes on Patrick, a fork grasped in her small hand.

“What’s a Woodbury?” She asked as Carl placed the plate in front of her and took his seat. His face dropped at the word.

“It’s where Patrick and most of the other people in cell block D used to stay.” Carl said in a sharp tone. Annabelle shoved a large forkful of pasta into her mouth and her eyes flitted between Carl and Patrick.

“What happened there?” I asked. Carl cast me a glance and mouth to me over Annabelle’s head ‘I’ll tell you later’, casting a glance down at her. I nodded and followed her gaze as she continued to shovel down her food. A sad smile fell across my face as I realized the distance between the times that we had a hot meal ever since the world fell to ruin. A few silence filled minutes later, Annabelle looked up at me with an empty plate and a pasta sauce filled face.

“Can I go now?” She asked, practically begging. “Carl said they’re really nice and they really wanna meet me!” My eyes landed on Carl who smiled at me.

“Of course sweetie.” I said, grabbing a napkin off of the table and gently wiping her face clean. “I want you to go with the other children to story time and I’ll go get you afterwards.” She stood up, her eyes big and bright, with a smile printed across her face that I hadn’t seen in a very long time. “Keep your knife hidden.” I muttered to her as she nodded, pecked my cheek and ran off as my eyes kept close watch. A throat being cleared caught me attention as I turned around to see Carl and his friend standing up with the plates in hand.

“We have to go make out rounds. I’ll stop by your cell in a little bit and explain.” He said as I nodded and offered out my hand.

“Let me take the plates. I need an excuse to try and be sociable.” I said, as Carl smiled and Patricks lips slightly twitched upwards. Carl handed them to me and grasped my shoulder as they made their way towards the gates. Adding Annabelle’s plate to the stack, I stood up and made my way over to where the other plates were stacked. Placing the plates on top of the pile and throwing the dirty napkin in what I hoped was a trash can, I turned around and was met with a pair of big green eyes.

“Oh hello! You must be Alyss! My name is Beth. It’s nice to meet you.” The green eyed girl, Beth, said in a very happy tone with a smile spread across her face.

“That’s me.” I said, my eyes wearily taking in this ray of sunshine. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

“Where’s Annabelle?” She asked, her green eyes scanning me behind me and the rays of the sun bouncing off her blonde hair.

“She’s with the other kids.” I said as Beth turned around to look at the kids with Annabelle being the center of attention. Her hair whipped around her face as she turned back to look at me.

“Oh that’s great! Everyone here is really nice, she’ll fit in just fine. Just like you will. We haven’t had any kids my age around in a while.” She mentioned as the light in her eyes dissipated for a slight second but when returned full force. “Are you named after Alice from Alice in Wonderland?” She asked, her eyes actually seeming to show her true curiosity.

“Sort of. It’s spelt A-L-Y-S-S though. My mom liked it better than the original.” I said moving out of the way allowing Beth to place her dish with the others. She nodded and smiled up at me.

“Have you met a lot of people already? I know you’ve met the council, Hershel's my dad, and my sister and her husband.” She added at the end.

“I’ve met everyone from your group, I’m supposed to find this Daryl guy cause we both hunt.” I said, leaning against the crate and shoving my hands in my pockets.

“You’ll like Daryl, you remind me of him a bit.” Beth added. I nodded and kept a gaze on Annabelle who was playing tag with a bunch of the other children.”I’ll see you around then. I have to go help inside with the dishes.” She said, smiling at me as she made her way inside. Sighing, I stood up straighter and tucked myself inwards as a breeze made its way through. Making my way over to the door that we came out of, I cast a glance at Annabelle smiling and laughing without a care in the world. A faint smile fell over my lips as I walked inside the prison and waited as the door slammed shut behind me.

* * *

 

A faint knock on the side of the wall snapped me out of the motions as I finished unpacking Annabelle's stuff, laying it out carefully on the desk. My eyes snapped onto Carl holding a small girl, about two years old whose eyes were locked on me. I smiled at her and moved my gaze back onto Carl who was standing outside of the cell.

“Come on in. Who's this?” I asked with a huge smile on my face as the little girl grinned up at me.

“This is my little sister Judith. Would you like to hold her?” He asked me, his blue eyes filled with happiness looking down at her.

“I would love too.” I said, feeling my chest fill with warmth from the offer. Holding out my arms, he gently slid into them and she looked between both of us until her eyes finally settled on me. I smiled at her as she used one hand to slightly wave at me. Using my free hand, I waved back as I turned my gaze back to Carl who was smiling so much I couldn’t believe that it wasn’t hurting his face.

“Would you like to go on a tour of the prison? I thought that it’d be nice. I could tell you about Woodbury if you’d like.” He offered, rubbing the back of his neck as his eyes made little awkward glances at the floor.

“I’d like that.” I replied as his eyes met mine.

 

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

 

Carl slid open the door that lead outside. Following him, I adjusted Judith in my arms as the wind blew my hair around me face.

“So what's the deal with Woodbury?” I asked, sending Judith a smile as we headed towards the perimeter. Carl adjusted his hat and cast a glance towards his sister before starting.

“Before we were at the prison, we settled at a farm belonging to Hershel and his family. It became overrun and we had to leave.” He said, a look of despair darkening his expression before he began speaking again. “We all got separated but we managed to group together but one of us got left behind. After that we were on the road for most of the winter but then we stumbled upon this place and now it’s home.” Motioning towards the prison, even Judith’s eyes turned to watch the sun set in an array of purples, reds and oranges from behind the tall walls. My lips parted to speak but he continued on. “We cleared out the front yard and then made our way inside, clearing out cell Block C and then the others later on. Everything was going pretty well. One day Maggie and Glenn went out on a run and they didn’t make it back. The Governor captured and tortured them. My dad and a couple other folks went in and broke them out. It turned out to be an entire town full of survivors, about seventy or eighty in all. They called their set up Woodbury because well, that was the name of the town where they settled.” He said, as we continued our way and he smiled at me, seemingly anxiously. I smiled back and readjusted Judith who was slowly beginning to drift off clutching two fingers of mine in her hands. “They were a major operation and their society seemed strong, except for their insane leader. He called himself the Governor. He ran the place. When we ran into them, we tried to set up a meeting and sort everything out without bloodshed or harm and it seemed like it worked. After we left, all seemed calm. Later on, we found out that Andrea, the one we left behind at the farm, had ended up at Woodbury and was pretty friendly with the Governor. She visited and told us that they were planning on attacking us, she later went out to set up a meeting with them. My dad and the Governor talked one on one and the Governor demanded we hand over Michonne as a treaty. One of the people who knew went out and took Michonne to deliver her but he let her go half way through. After this, the Governor convinced his people that we were the enemy, that we all couldn’t survive, that we were killers, that it was either them or us and he prepared them for war. Andrea tried to warn us but the Governor wouldn’t let her leave and tied her up, keeping her prisoner. They came and attacked us but we moved them out and went to go to Woodbury to get Andrea but it was too late. A man had been attacked and later died in the same room that Andrea was tied up in and he bit her. She died.” Carl ended with that and lowered his head a fraction.

“I’m so sorry.” I said as we stopped walking as I gently untangled my fingers from Judiths. Biting my lip, I reached out and patted his shoulder as he lifted his head to look at me.

“It’s alright. People die everyday.” He said, smiling at me and placing his hand on top of mine. We stood like this for a while until Judith turned over in her sleep and Carl dropped his hand. “That’s the story of Woodbury, now they’re gone and we’re still here.” He added, smiling at me as began walking again, falling in step with one another once again. “So what’s your story?” He asked as I readjusted Judith in my arms.

“Why so eager?” I asked with a small smile on my lips. “I mean I’m almost positive that there’s more to your story than just your involvement with the Woodburnians.” I said as Car looked at me with slight humor in his eyes.

“Yeah, you’re right, there’s a lot more. I’ll tell you mine, if you tell me yours.” He offered and I smiled.

“So that’s how it’s gonna work.” I said as he nodded with a grin on his face. “Well, I was born about sixteen years ago on April 1st, yes I am an April's fool.” I said with a smile. “My sister was born a little less than ten years ago and that's when everything went downhill. My mom already had high blood pressure, anxiety, depression and chronic migraines she got turned out to be a non-cancerous tumor pressing against her skull. A few weeks after Annabelle was born, she was admitted into the hospital. At first, it would only be a couple of days at a time you know, to do tests and watch over her for observation. The trips got more frequent and the medical bills began to pile up. My dad had to work three jobs and we couldn’t afford a nurse to stay home with my mom to make sure she got her medicine as I became homeschooled and became the family nurse. My mom would later be committed full time to the hospital and I still took care of Annabelle and went out hunting to sell the game for extra money because there were a lot more bills. Soon after the shit hit the fan.” I bounced Judith gently in my arms as I cleared my throat. “Conway was a small town but it was hit hard and early on. A walker attacker my mother but the law enforcement took care of the hospital before she turned. My father found out and he lost it, though that his wife had been murdered and began looking for justice where none could be found. He was killed one night by a raiding party going through the store he worked in. After that, we left. It was only about a couple of months it, still some good supplies left around town so we stalked up and hauled ass. There was nothing left for us. We were heading to the CDC to find answers when we ran into ya’ll and well you know the rest.” I said, looking over at Carl whose eyes were locked onto me.

“That sounds terrible.” was all he was able to say as I kept talking on.

“It was what we had to do to survive and it helped me to prepare to protect my sister and I through this hell storm. I learned how to hunt, better anyways, and some medical lingo.” I shrugged my shoulders as Judith stirred in my arms. “It all works out in the end.” I finished as I gave Carl a small smile. Pulling out in front of me, I stopped as he looked down at me. Before I knew it, I was being pressed against his chest with both of his arms holding me securely to him. His hat brushed up against the top of my head and I removed my hand from my side to wrap it around him. Leaning my forehead against his shoulder, I looked up at him who smiled at me with a pink, but delighted, face. Pulling back, he encased my hand with his own and squeezed it.

“Let’s go get your sister. Story time should be over by now.” He said, as we started our way back to the prison. looking down at me, I cast a glance at him and caught him smiling at me.

“What?” I asked, my eyes flitting across his face as a smile ran across it.

“Nothing. Come on, let’s go.”

 

 

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

  
  


The sound of the cell door, slowly being shut, awoke me from the thin veil of sleep I was under. Peeling my eyelids open, I propped myself up onto my elbows to see Annabelle struggling to carry two plates piled with food. I reached out and took one as she smiled at me.

“You were still sleeping so I got food.” She said as I sat up in the bunk, crouched over slightly as she sat down next to me, placing the plate on her lap. “They have eggs here. Carol made them.” She added, poking at the eggs with her fork before slipping them into her mouth. I smiled at her and nudged the eggs with the fork around my plate. Putting the fork down, she looked over at me and swallowed her eggs. “You’re hungry.” Annabelle said simply as I cast my eyes onto hers.

“Don’t worry, I’ll eat later. I’m going to go see if I can go bag anything if Rick’ll find someone to watch after you.” I said, stabbing a small piece of egg and placing it in my mouth to appease her. Annabelle's eyes flickered over my features before giving me a small nod and finishing off her eggs. “Here have mine.” I said, taking my plate and putting it on top of hers. Moving her eyes from the full plate to me, then back. Slowly, she picked up the fork and looked at me. “Go ahead.” I encouraged as I stood up and rifled through our bag. Hearing the scooping of the fork and satisfied swallowed, I sighed happily and pulled out clean clothes.  I turned around to see the plate clean and the two forks laying across of it. “Now get changed and I’ll go put these back. I’ll try and find someone who can watch you for an hour or two.” I said, trading the clothes for the plates as I stepped out of the cell and began adjusting the curtain in front of it. A coughing erupted out of the cell as I finished draping it across the doorway. I pushed it back to see a red faced Annabelle sitting on the bottom bunk with her hand over her mouth. “You okay?” I said, placing the plates down on the desk and kneeled down in front of her. Pressing my forearm to her forehead, I felt the warmth radiating off of her skin.

“My throat hurts.” was all she said in a raspy tone. I bit down on my bottom lip as I removed my arm and she looked at me.

“Alright.” I said, picking her up and laying her down on the top bunk. “Today’s a pajama day. I’ll get someone to check up on you and I’ll go ask Beth if they have anything in terms of medicine.” I told her as I tucked her securely underneath the blankets and tucked Eeyore in next to her.

“Will you come back soon?” She asked in the same raspy tone, clutching the small purple toy. Brushing a strand of hair away from her eyes, her fingers reached up and grasped onto mine.

“As soon as I can.” I replied simply as she carefully released my fingers and pulled her arm back to her chest. “Get some sleep, you’ll feel better.” I said, shrugging on a jacket and slipping my bow onto my back along with the sheath of arrows. Reaching underneath the bed, I took out my gun and slipped it in the waistband of my jeans. Brushing the sheet back away from the entrance with the hand that wasn’t carrying the plates, I stepped out, turning around to close the cell door behind me. Hearing the door shut with a click, I walked into the big room that was at the end of the cell block before you took the hallway that took you outside. Beth was sitting at a table with her Carol. They were chatting politely which slowed when they saw me enter.

“Good morning!” Beth said, with a smile in her eyes as she stood up. “I hope you liked breakfast.” She said, taking the plates from my hands. “It’s not much, but it’s food.” Looking at me with bright blue eyes, I nodded in response.

“It was great, thanks. Annabelle loves eggs. It used to be the only thing that she would eat, well besides Bojangles, and it’s pretty damn hard to find that nowadays.” I said with a twisted tone of humor in voice that leaked it’s way in unannounced. The room filled with silence as Beth placed the plates in a tub that was on the table off to the side. “Anyways, do you know where Rick is?” I asked, filling the silence.

“He’s outside with Carl and Judith, are you planning on going on a hunt?” Carol asked me as her eyes raked over my bow.

“Yes ma’am.” I replied. “I was going to ask if the other guy was back to see what ground he had already covered. Wouldn’t want to go over an already combed area.” I said.

“Daryl’s not back yet.” Beth said. “I’m sure that he wouldn’t mind talking to you when he gets back, if you want to wait.” She offered.

“Do you know when he’s supposed to be back?” I asked as they exchanged looks. “I’ll take that as a no. I’ll just go ahead and head out then.” I said, adjusting the strap and making my way towards the door that lead outside. Pushing the door open, the blinding mid-morning sun broke into the dark room as I turned around slightly and caught Beth’s attention. “Would you mind checking in on Annabelle every once in awhile? She feels a little warm. She’ll probably be sleeping the entire day, but it would be nice to have someone just pop in on her.” I asked as her eyes lit up and she nodded.

“I can go find my dad later on and he can check up on her, he’s a doctor. Well sort of.” She added at the end as I nodded in response.

“If it isn’t any trouble.” I said.

“Not at all.” Carol added in as I nodded once again and stepped outside into the sun. Shielding my eyes as the door shut behind me, I could see Rick, Judith and Carl all in the field, close to the fence. There was two fences around the entire prison and the outer one was swarmed with walkers trying to push it over with their sheer weight. In some places, they seemed to be achieving their goal, the fence being held up with logs. I made my way down the field and noticed that Rick was actually farming. Pulling up weeds. He had a large expanse of crops, a whole farming operation actually. Carl noticed me first, holding Judith in his arms. He gave me a small wave along with a timid smile. Rick looked up from his crops, shielding his eyes with his hand, gave me a smile.

“Well good morning. I see you slept in then.” Rick remarked, as he stood up and wiped his hands on his jeans.

“I tried, Annabelle’s the early bird.” I said, as Rick cast a glance behind me.

“Where is the little one?” He asked, checking behind me once again.

“She ain’t feeling too good.” I said, giving a small grin to Judith who smiled at me, before hiding her face in Carl’s chest. “I was wondering where it would be okay for me to start hunting. It’s time that we start pulling our weight, we wouldn’t want to be a burden.” I added.

“Your other group place a lot of stock in keeping up your end of the bargain?” Rick asked, taking out a cloth and wiping the sweat off of his brow.

“Something like that.” I said, crossing my arms against my chest. “Where did your guy go already, if you know.” I asked as Rick and Carl exchanged glances.

“I think he headed out south.” Carl pipped in, looking at me with those blue eyes. “Took the main road a little bit past where we are and headed in the wood near there.”

“He’s already cleared everything out around the prison, besides the walkers either eat or scare anything else away.” Rick finished. “You should wait for him to get back, he’s got a map with him, could show you the layout of the land and get a plan set up just incase things go bad.”

“I wouldn’t want to wait any longer, do you know when he’s getting back?” I asked again as Rick let out a small chuckle.

“I don’t think he knows when he’s getting back. You could talk to Mi-” Rick started to offer as the sound of one of the metal doors opening echoed across the prison yard along with frantic running. My head snapped back towards the large building to see Glenn running out with his pistol in hand before he shouted out to us.

“Walkers in D!”

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

My body tensed up as my hand shot up and grabbed onto my bow. I whipped around to see Rick looking at me.

“Go.” He said as I nodded and shot up towards the prison, my feet hitting the hard dirt in a quick strides. “Stay with Judith.” I heard Rick command to Carl before his footsteps echoed mine as I made my way into the prison yard and followed were Glenn had ran off too. A door that was heading into a different part of the prison was slowly beginning to shut as I caught it and made my way inside. Screams echoed from the cell block below along with the faint thuds and slumps following. I stopped at the entrance of the cell and stared at the mass chaos in front of me. A few of the people were laid on the floor being devoured by one or two walkers at a time. The rest were either lying dead, perfectly still on the floor, or frantically searching for a safe escape. A lady ran past me, nearly knocking me over, as I turned to watch her run with blood seeping down her arm from what looked at me a bite mark.

“Damn it,” I muttered to myself as I sheathed my arrow and aimed it at her head. “Stop.” I whispered as she kept running down the corridor. “Stop.” I let the word slip out again right before she reached the end of the corridor and I let the arrow fly. Turning around, I heard her body thump to the ground as I continued to make my way into the cell. I slipped my bow back over my shoulder and grasped the hilt of the knife as Rick made his way passed me and up the stairs. A scream echoed out behind me as a little kid flew by me as a walker stumbled its way in his direction. Unsheathing my knife, I stabbed it through the front of his skull and yanked it out as the walker crumbled to the floor. Feeling something grab my foot, I automatically tried to yank it away much to the dismay of the walker clutching onto my foot. With another sharp yank, I wrenched my foot free and smashed its skull in with the heel of my boot. I cringed slightly at the amount of brain matter and blood that was now seeping its way into my shoes but made my way up the stairs as the screams began to get farther apart. Rick was on the stairs and had just pushed off a walker that was getting a little bit too close for comfort. Stringing my bow, I hit the walker dead on in the center of his head, mere seconds before another arrow impaled him as well. A middle aged man with long dark hair that was beginning to cover his eyes reached down and yanked out his arrow, before looking at me. Rick came to stand next to him as the man with the vest eyed me once again before kneeling down and removing my arrow as well.

“Daryl?” I said more than asked as he extended the arrow out to me with the head facing him. Taking it, I wiped the blood covered tip on my jeans and placed it back in it’s holder. He gave me a simple nod, his hair falling more so over his eyes.

“Alyss.” I said and all I got was a nod in return. He made his way down stairs, with his crossbow in hand. “So that’s the guy you were talking to me about?” I asked Rick as he stood next to me.

“Yes, you’ll get used to him.” He said with a slight smile on his face despite the gruesome scene around us. We made our descent down the stairs to meet up with Daryl and Glenn who were inspecting some corpse who was laid out in front of two cells.

“Patrick.” was all that Daryl said. “Poor bastard must’ve gotten sick.” He added as we all looked down at a boy that I had spoken to less than twenty four hours ago. Blood coated his face, as if it had streamed out of his nose and mouth.

“He wasn’t feeling too good last night at dinner.” I said, nibbling on my bottom lip and crossing my arms against my chest out of habit. “Didn’t look too good either.” I added as they all turned to look at me. “Annabelle looked like she was coming down with something this morning. Might be the same thing.” I blurted out before I knew what I was saying.

“Well whatever it is, it can kill.” Glenn said, looking at me what I think was pity in his eyes. “We have to see if anyone else has this and get them away from the rest of us. We can’t risk lives.” He said, standing up straighter. “I’ll go get Hershel and see if he knows anything about this.” Glenn proposed looking up at Rick, who nodded in approval, although he wasn’t the one who needed to give permission.

“Stay away from everyone else until we get this figured out. As far as we all know, we’ve all been exposed and can get everyone sick. Just stay away, outside or something until we get this figured out or anyone starts showing symptoms.” Rick added, addressing all of us, in a strong and commanding tone, making me question why he wouldn’t be the one in charge in the first place. Glenn and Daryl nodded in agreement as Glenn left with Daryl following him.

“I have to go get my sister.” I said as we locked eyes onto one another. He looked at me for a moment or two before nodding. Wiping the knife that was still gripped in my hands on my jeans before placing it back in it’s holster, I calmly started making my way back towards our cell block while the panic began to slowly bubble up inside me.

* * *

 

I pressed the moist cloth closer to Annabelle's forehead as she let out another weak cough. Laying it carefully down, I tightened the bandana that I had tied around my mouth and nose. She scrunched up her nose, let out another cough and rolled over, the cloth sticking slightly to her warm forehead. Sighing, I raised the bandana carefully into position as it began to slid down the bridge of my nose. Annabelle was clutching Eeyore close to her chest and sucking her thumb, something she hadn’t done since she was three. Tossing the rest of the stuff that we had unpacked back into our bags, I slipped the extra gun into the back of my waistband and zipped the bag shut. The only thing left in the cell was Annabelle's blankets, stuffed animals and ourselves. The blanket still covered the door and I began pulling it down, untying the corners that had been attached to the top of the doorway. Folding the blanket in my arms, I looked up to see Carl standing in front of me. I immediately took a step back despite the cell door standing between us.

“You shouldn’t be here, she’s sick. You might get sick, you have to think about your Dad and Judith.” I said as Annabelle coughed in her sleep as to enunciate my point. “Everyone else is gone right?” I asked as he nodded, looking at me with some sort of film of emotion over his blue eyes. “Why aren’t you?”

“I wanted to check up on you both and we decided where to move the sick. You’re going into A block, where they kept the death row inmates. It’s secure and it’ll keep the germs in.” He said, sliding the door open. “Come on let’s go.” He picked up the bag that was laying on the table. My eyes raked over him as he stared me down with those big blue eyes. “Come on.” He repeated as I revoked my stare and carefully peeled Annabelle off of the bed with her blankets trailing her.

“Jesus christ.” I muttered as I lifted her small yet heavy frame onto my shoulder and looped my arms around her. Carl looked at with what I thought was pity in his eyes and I stood up straighter.

“Let’s go.” was all he remarked as he turned on his heel and made his way out of the cell block at a quick pace. Rebalancing the dead weight on my shoulder, I followed Carl as we made our way through the maze that connected the cells of the prison. At last, Carl swung open a door that lead into a small cell block that had about twenty cells and had a large glass wall at one end. “This is home for you guys until we get this all settled down. Hershel will be by soon with anyone else who's sick and he’ll check up on you okay.” He said, with his voice softened and his eyes locked onto me.

“We’ll be okay.” I said simply as I walked into a cell closest to the door and carefully laid Annabelle in her cocoon of blankets on the bottom bunk. Standing back up, Carl was standing next to me, placing the bag on the floor besides the bed.

“I’ll stop by later okay?” He offered look at me and even a small grin flittered across his lips.

“I’d like that.” I said, as I offered him a small grin back and he took his hat off of his head. Placing it on mine, I touched the brim to him as he walked out of the cell. Nodding back, I slid the cell door shut and watched him leave as far as my sight would allow.


	11. Chapter 11

  
  


I readjusted the hat that was lying on top of my head as I leaned over to place a damp washcloth onto a man’s forehead. Four more people had come in and thankfully they had all come in from Woodbury's’ block. Carl and Rick had brought each of them up to the back door so we could lead them inside,one had to be brought in on a stretcher. One older women was the only one able to get up to help me with the other patients. Hershel would stand by the visiting wall and advise us on what to give the people, wasn’t much that we could do with what they had. Hershel assured us that we were doing our best and that they had sent out a few people out to get supplies from a local veterinarian's hospital. Coughs echoed through the halls of the cell block as I stood up and leaned against the wall on the opposite of the cell. Brushing strands of hair out of my face, I pushed back the hat and pulled up the bandana so that it covered my mouth and nose. I patted the cloth onto his forehead as he let out a weak cough. Frown lines creased my face as I walked out of the cell and slid the door shut behind me. No one had died yet and no one had even discussed what we would do if anyone croaked but we all knew what had to be done. As I walked down the stretch of cells, I peeked my head in to check on the people, just to make sure they were breathing. They were, weakly, but still breathing. I closed the doors of all the cells that had people in them and I went to check up on Elaine, the older woman who was the only person who could walk. She was laying on the bed with her thin blond hair sticking to her face due to the sheen of sweat that covered it. Making my way into the cell, I leaned over and pressed the understand of my hand to her forehead. I quickly retracted my hand as I felt the high heat radiate off of her forehead. Sighing, I fixed my bandana again, this time out of habit, and made my way out of the cell, sliding the door shut behind me. A knocking snapped me out of my thoughts as my head snapped towards the end of the cell block where the viewing area was at. Carl was standing there alone and he gave me a small smile as he waved. Nodding at him, I balanced the hat back on my head as I made my way towards the glass.

“How’s it going?” He asked nervously, his eyes fluttering over me without hesitation as I got close enough to hear him.

“Good as it can go.” I replied, tugging the bandana away from my face as it hung around my neck.

“How’s Annabelle?” Carl asked with clear worry and concern etched into his features. He craned his head around me to see further back into the cell block. “Where’s Elaine?” He asked with the lines creasing themselves deeper into his young face.  

“She’s feeling better, still has a high fever, but her coughing has gotten better.” I said. “Everyone else is just getting worse, two of the men down the hall are already starting to cough up blood.”

“Where’s Elaine?” He asked as he peered further, pressing himself the glass before realizing what he was doing.

“She’s in bed, resting. She hasn’t been feeling good lately and I think it finally got to her.” I said, running a hand through my hair and letting out a long sigh.

“So it’s just you then?” He asked with concern in his voice. I nodded in response. “Are you feeling okay? Any fever, coughing?” He asked again, attempting to mask the worry.

“Fine, is everyone out there okay? Judith didn’t catch it did she?” I asked concerned for the little one.

“She’s fine, everyone is fine, you need someone in here with you.” He protested.

“Who do you suggest Carl? No one from the Council can, Rick certainly can’t, not with Judith, and I’m pretty sure that Beth won’t be of much assistance.” I countered back, crossing my arms and sticking out my hip.

“Let Hershel come in, he can help, he wants to.” Carl said, as I shook my head.

“No way, he’s too old, and if he get’s sick it’s just one more person for me to take care of that shouldn’t be in here in the first place.” I replied.

“Let me then.” Carl said with a strong and solid voice.

“No.” was all that I was able to say.

“Why not? What stops me from opening that door and walking in there to help you?”

“I do, your sister does, your dad does.” I rebutted as the strong and confident mask that was covering his face soon began to slip. “You have a family here, the only one I have is Annabelle and all she has is me. If I get sick and die making sure that she’s safe, then fine, so be it, but there is no way in holy hell I will let someone else die with so much to lose.” I finished, my voice waning at the end as his eyes full of pure raw emotion locked onto mine.

“You have a lot to lose, you have your sister, your life, your future.” He said, slowly and almost painfully, his eyes never removed from mine.

“She is my future, I made a pact with my mother to keep her safe after she got sick and I’m letting nothing break it, not a damn zombie apocalypse, not some bloody flu, nothing.” I said as the coughs and groans began to leak out of the cell block. Carl let out a sigh and let his eyes lock onto me one last time.

“You could have a future here you know.” He said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “With me.” He finished, glancing up at me before walking out, his fleeting footsteps barely audible over the growing noises of death approaching.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

 

Covering my mouth once again, I went back into the farthest part of the cell, rechecking all of the doors again. I let out a long sigh and leaned against the back wall as the groans and coughs began to crescendo in their normal rhythmic pattern. Carl’s last words swam around my head as I tried to focus on what to do next. The emotion seeping through his voice has sunk into my brain and wasn’t leaving anytime soon. Tightening the bandanna protecting my nose and mouth, I made my way up the stairs and poked my head inside the cell where Lizzie was lying

“How are you feeling today?” I asked as she slowly sat up, her face regaining some color.

“Better. When can I leave? I’m bored in here, what if something happens?” She said, sitting up and crossing her arms against her chest.

“You can leave whenever everyone else gets better.” I repeated for what seemed like the hundredth time. “Nothing will happen, don’t worry.” I said, patting the gun that was resting on my hip. She looked at me with a blank expression.

“I need to go see my sister, and Carol too. She said she would visit me, she hasn’t been here in two days.” Lizzie once again protested, sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of the bunk.

“They are both alright, I promise you. Things have been stressful with everyone in quarantine and half of your people off on a run. Next time Carl stops by, I’ll have him go get them, alright?” I demanded more than asked as I slid the door shut as she stood up.

“Alright.” She said with an absent look in her eyes as she sat down. Sighing, I made my way back downstairs. Walking to the cell closest to the door, I slid open the door and saw a bundle of blankets laying on the top bunk. Sliding the door closed behind me, I slowly began tugging the blankets away and met slight resistance.

“How are you feeling sweetie?” I asked my sister who was curled up, clutching her stuffed animal. Turning her pale face to look at me, she let out a small smile.

“I’m thirsty.” She barely managed to whisper out as I grabbed a half empty bottle of water and carefully helped her drink a few drops.

“There you go sweetie.” I said, putting the bottle back and brushing strands of her hair back from her clammy face. Pressing my forearm against her forehead, I let out a relieved sigh as no heat emitted from her. “You’re not hot anymore, that means you’re getting better. That’s great.” I told her, letting a sad smile spread across my features. She looked at me with slightly glassy eyes before they threatened to close as she let out a long yawn. “Just go back to sleep dear.”  I said, receiving a miniscule nod as her eyes closed shut and I covered her up once again with two layers of blankets. I pulled off the bandana and grabbed a bottle of hand sanitizer, rubbing in a large blob on it into my hands. Rapid knocking snapped me out of my concentration as I quickly pulled the bandana back over my face and stepped out of the cell. Carl and Hershel were standing on the other side of the viewing area, clutching someone in their arms. Slamming the door shut behind me, I rushed to the door. Sliding the door open, they rushed inside and I noticed that the bloody and unconscious body was Glenn. My heart started to pick up and my gaze never left his pale face until a voice broke my focus.

“Where?” was all Carl said, but it was enough.

“Right next to Annabelle.” I said, sliding back the cell door as they quickly scooted inside and placed Glenn carefully on the bed. Afterwards after the anxiety had only slightly faded away, my eyes locked on Carl and Hershel. “You guys can’t be in here.” I said, reaching up to run my hand through my hair and only succeeding in knocking Carl’s hat off my head instead. Carl’s eyes locked on mine as he stepped out of the cell. Leaning over, he picked up the hat and placed it back on my head, smiling sadly at me.

“Hershel needed help and I couldn’t exactly fight with him.” Carl said, peeking over at the older man who was kneeling next to Glenn's bedside, his fingers pressed against his neck. “Half of the Council is off on the run and Rick has Judith.”

“Does he know that you’re in here?” I asked, the anxiety continuing to fade as he gave me a small shy smile and my arms fell across my chest.

“Not particularly.” Carl said, shrugging and tugging on his shirt slightly. I let out a sigh.

“Come on, let’s get you a cell. You didn’t bring anything with you, did you?” I asked, walking over to our cell and sliding open the door.

“I wasn’t exactly focusing on that at the time, Alyss.” He said, letting out a small chuckle as he followed me inside. Snatching up a blanket and a pillow from the bottom bunk, I tossed them at him.

“Here. The nearest empty cell is across from this one, there’s a patient in the cell next to yours if it’ll make you uncomfortable.” I started, reaching in the bag, searching for a shirt of mine that might fit Carl’s slightly larger frame. “I’m pretty sure you and Hershel won’t mind bunking together.” I smirked as I tugged out a grey shirt that was big on me. Tossing this behind my shoulder, I turned around to face him.

“You wouldn’t mind if I dragged a mattress in here, would you?” He asked, rubbing the back of his neck as I looked up at him.

“Not at all, it would be nice to have someone in here that was awake most of the time. I just made rounds, so I’ll be heading to bed soon.” I shrugged as Carl nodded.

“I’ll be right back.” He said, placing the sheets and shirt down on the floor before making his way to the cell across the block. Looking up, I tucked Annabelle into bed once again. The sound of the dragging mattress out louder as Carl walked back inside the cell, placing the thing mattress right next to the bottom bunk. Throwing the sheets on and the pillow, he smiled at me. “Thanks.” He said, holding the grey shirt in his hands. Raising an eyebrow at me, I smiled back.

“I thought that you might want to change.” I said, motioning at the blood that bespeckled his white shirt. His face turned a pale pink as he started tugging at the bottom of his shirt. I felt my face turn beet red as I quickly turned around. Taking off his hat and placing it on the table with the my bag, I reached into it and pulled out a larger blue shirt. Pulling off my skirt, I threw on the larger shirt and tugged off my jeans. Turning about around, Carl’s eyes were locked on my legs and I let out a small amused giggle. His eyes locked on mine and I smirked. “Like what you see?” I said, running a hand through my hair. He cleared his throat and began stuttering out some incoherent sentences. “It’s alright, you’re not too bad yourself.” I replied, my eyes scanning over him as the shirt that I gave him wasn’t as big as I thought it would be. He smiled at me and I blushed. Stepping towards me slightly, I felt my face grow redder as his hands reached out and grasped my waist. He pulled me closer and I leaned my face towards his. My eyes slowly fluttered shut and I felt him lean in. A sharp cough came out from the top bunk as my eyes snapped open and I pulled back. “Umm, it’s time for bed.” I said, leaning back and sliding into bed.

“A...alright then.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck as a now familiar nervous tick, Kneeling down, he laid down on the mattress that barely separated him from the floor. “Good night Alyss.” He said.

“Good night.” I said, as my thoughts started racing once again and I realized that I wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight either.

 

 


End file.
